DRAFT U.N. REFORM RESOLUTION URGES INTER-GOV'T TALKS TO END IN 2008

NEW YORK, June 8 Kyodo - Japan, Germany and other U.N. members are considering presenting a resolution on Security Council reform to the General Assembly, with an eye to concluding intergovernmental negotiations by the end of 2008 and granting veto powers to new permanent members on an expanded council, according to a draft text obtained by Kyodo News. The draft of the resolution, aimed at resuming intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform at an early date, outlines a series of requests to be made to the General Assembly president and lays out a time frame for action. Specifically, the paper calls for intergovernmental negotiations to start within three weeks of the resolution's adoption. It calls for achieving ''concrete results'' during the current 62nd U.N. General Assembly session, which ends in September, and then for concluding negotiations ''as soon as possible, preferably before the end of 2008.'' Among the key elements included in the draft are the specific expansion of both permanent and nonpermanent seats, the extension of veto powers to new permanent members and equitable geographical distribution. There are also calls for ''greater representation'' aimed at including developing countries and ''adequate representation'' of developed countries and economies in transition that should be ''reflective of contemporary world realities.'' Numerous U.N. diplomatic sources told Kyodo News that the draft resolution is merely an option that exists as a means of getting the critical intergovernmental negotiations process rolling. But the resolution, if adopted, could open the way for Japan and other aspirants to become new permanent members of the council, though there is opposition from some groups, such as Uniting for Consensus, which are pushing only for expanding the number of nonpermanent slots. Japan, along with other countries such as Germany, India and Brazil, had lobbied intensively to gain new permanent seats on an expanded council. But after presenting a joint resolution in July 2005, they were unable to garner the necessary support to alter the 15-member composition, which consists of five permanent and 10 nonpermanent members elected to serve two-year posts. While there is widespread agreement among member states that reform is badly needed, views are mixed on how to implement change. Besides the Uniting for Consensus group, another group from Africa is pressing for expansion of both permanent and nonpermanent slots, while also granting veto rights to those in new permanent slots. Most recently, in April, Srgjan Kerim, the president of the General Assembly, called his second meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group to explore ways to move the hotly debated issue forward. Comprising his task force were four ambassadors from Chile, Bangladesh, Portugal and Djibouti, who have been meeting with various regional groups and are expected to present their conclusion at the next Open-Ended Working Group meeting slated to take place in the third week of June. In March, a group of countries presented a draft text laying out multiple options for expanding the Security Council. The text took into account the interests of all the groups in hopes of jump-starting the intergovernmental negotiations at that time.